Australia's supposed history of national unity and cooperation is regularly invoked by both right-wing politicians and trade union leaders. But the country's history is one of bitter class struggle, even during the peaks of nationalist frenzy like the first World War.
Under the cover of COVID-19, the Liberal government is trying to push through a historic attack on the rights of students and university workers. Massive cuts and huge fee increases have to be met with student and worker resistance.
Hundreds of thousands of public housing units? Legal aid for the 160,000 people who can't get it? Fully funding education and Indigenous health? How about all of the above?
Why have the powers of the police expanded over decades, while funding for vital social services shrinks? Laissez-faire capitalism goes hand-in-hand with brutal coercion.
Is abolishing the same as defunding? Does either one mean the police have been defeated? What does it mean when liberals start saying abolishing the police isn't all that scary? A socialist take on an exciting set of slogans.
Forty years ago, a protest against authoritarian rule in South Korea became an uprising. Hundreds of thousands of protesters battled government troops in the streets. The legacy of the uprising is still contested today.
